UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State is set for the 2019 Big Ten Men's Swimming & Diving Championships beginning Wednesday. The four-day meet will be hosted by Iowa in the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
SCHEDULE
The events begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday with the timed finals of the 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay. Preliminary heats will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the finals scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. each night.
Wednesday, Feb. 27 - RELAYS at 7:30 p.m.
200 Medley Relay
800 Freestyle Relay
Thursday, Feb. 28 - PRELIMS at 12 p.m.
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1-Meter Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
1-Meter Diving - Consolation Final
Thursday, Feb. 28 - FINALS at 7:30 p.m.
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1-Meter Diving - Final
400 Medley Relay
Friday, Mar. 1 - PRELIMS at 12 p.m.
100 Butterfly
400 Individual Medley
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3-Meter Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
3-Meter Diving - Consolation Final
Friday, Mar 1 - FINALS at 7:30 p.m.
100 Butterfly
400 Individual Medley
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3-Meter Diving - Final
200 Freestyle Relay
Saturday, Mar. 2 - PRELIMS at 12 p.m.
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
Platform Diving - Consolation Final
1,650 Freestyle (Approx. 4:15 p.m.)
Saturday, Mar 2 - FINALS at 7:30 p.m.
1,650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay
ADMISSION
During the championships, tickets can be purchased inside the main entrance of the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. Please contact the Iowa Athletics Ticket Office for more information.
Purchase tickets HERE.
COVERAGE
The four-day meet is scheduled to commence with relay finals starting on Wednesday at 6:30, and continue Friday through Saturday with preliminaries starting at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. All sessions will be streamed live via BTN Plus on BTN2Go. Complimentary access to BTN2Go is available to viewers connected to the internet network of a Big Ten university. Fans elsewhere can sign up for the pay-per-view webcasts.
Live results will be available on www.hawkeyesports.com and www.bigten.org.
THE MEET
The Nittany Lions will face some of the toughest competition in the country as five conference teams enter the event as members of the TYR/CSCAA Top 25. Indiana leads the conference, ranking second and is followed by No. 6 Michigan, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 22 Purdue, and Minnesota, who has received eight votes in the latest poll.
Penn State is looking to improve on an eighth-place finish from the 2018 Big Ten Championship. Last year, Indiana won its second Big Ten Championship in a row, followed by Michigan and Ohio State.
B1G CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Penn State has recorded five top-five finishes all stretching from 1998-2002. The Nittany Lions won the Big Ten Championship in 1999.
FREESTYLE
A handful of swimmers look to lead the Nittany Lions in the freestyle events. Sophomore Gabe Castano has led Penn State in the sprints, holding an NCAA B-cut time in the 100 free (43.57) to rank 10th in the Big Ten, and also the 23rd fastest time in the conference in the 50 free (20.03).
On the distance side, Nathan Schiffmann earned an NCAA B-cut in the 500 free (4:21.81), good for eighth in the conference, and following him is freshman Michael Daly (4:25.25) who ranks 17th. Daly, is also a threat in the mile with a B-cut time of 15:23.90, good enough for 14th-best in the Big Ten. Senior co-captain Robbie Dickson also ranks 21st (15:33.33).
Additionally, Schiffmann leads Penn State in the 200 free, ranking 24th (1:37.39).
BACKSTROKE
Freshman Michael Daly holds a 13th-place ranking in the conference in the 200 back (1:45.39), while senior Tomer Zamir (48.83), junior Liam Veregin (48.89), and Daly (48.90) rank consecutively in the 100 back just outside the Top 25.
BREASTSTROKE
Sophomore Hayden Harlow leads the Nittany Lions in both breaststroke events entering the Big Ten Championships. His bests of 54.91 in the 100 and 1:59.74 in the 200 rank both rank in the Top 25. Sophomore Brad Johnson follows a spot behind Harlow in the 100 breast (54.94), ranking 23d.
BUTTERFLY
Sophomore Juliusz Gosieniecki leads Penn State in the 100 fly with a time of 48.18, ranking 22nd in the conference. In the 200 fly, Matthew DiNunzio leads, ranking 16th with a time of 1:47.05.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Hayden Harlow owns two NCAA B-cut times, including 1:46.48 in the 200 IM, good for 12th in the Big Ten, and 3:49.86 in the 400 IM, ranking seventh. Michael Daly also has a B-cut time in the 400 IM (3:49.38), leading the Nittany Lions in the event by ranking sixth.
DIVING
Penn State's quartet of Hector Garcia Boissier, Jack Crow, Bryce Hoch and Jonah Cey have all qualified for the NCAA Zone Regionals and will look to impact the scoring at Big Tens. Garcia Boissier placed fifth in the 1-meter dive and 14th in the 3-meter at the 2018 Big Ten Championships.
NEXT UP
The Penn State men will have a last chance meet at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio before the NCAA Zone A Diving Championship on Mar. 11 and the NCAA Championships on Mar. 27.
A fundraiser was launched to support freshman women's swimmer Nikolette Nolte and her family for costs associated with her leukemia treatment. Any surplus funds will be donated to THON and the Jessie Rees Foundation to help others facing pediatric cancer. Donate at gopsu.info/nikistrong
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
